Photo: Matching winning Freuchie 1st XI

Meanwhile, our Second XI’s 100% record came to an abrupt end. A number of regulars were unavailable for selection, the situation made worse by injuries and call-offs. That said, it was a respectable looking batting XI that took the field against Marchmont. Stand-in skipper Alan Wallace praised Shane Munro for his mature innings of 30 not out and Grant Horsburgh for his contribution, but 139 all out off 47 overs wasn’t likely to be enough. Sadly, so it proved. Robbie Wright bowled economically, but the Marchmont batsmen cruised past our total without difficulty – and without loss. Alan reported that young Ross McMurdo bowled excellently and he had particular praise for the fielding of Cameron Millar and Blair Lawrie. We also have a special thanks to Charles Balfour, who drove up from Newcastle in response to Alan’s appeal for players.

Sunday saw our Thirds at home to Kinross. Both clubs had sides of genuinely mixed ability, but it has to be confessed that our mix was a good deal stronger than theirs. Freuchie batted first, with James Fretwell retiring hurt, but Dale Cowan and Robbie Wright rather took charge at that point, Dale skelping some huge sixes into the football park and retiring when he made his hundred. Robbie was close behind him at that point. He too got to his hundred a few balls later, and likewise retired. That left the way clear for the younger lads, who must have enjoyed batting without any pressure whatsoever.

Technorati Tags: Freuchie, Freuchie Cricket Club, Corstorphine, Kinross, SNCL

The Firsts were at home to West Lothian on Saturday in what turned out to be an absorbing match. Batting first, things were looking pretty rocky for us at 41 for 4, decidedly rocky at 96 for 5 then desperate, you might have said, at 96 for 6. However, these last two wickets had seen a ship-steadying stand between Steve Rowley and Jock Wallace. Kash Khalil added another 12, but it was the Cowans who did the biz – Dale with 62 not out and father Dave with 32. Freuchie fielded well, Dave Cowan getting pro van Wyk out for 29 while overseas amateur Cookson was run out for 38. Crucially, we had Scott Gourlay bowling the last over, showing his experience and holding his nerve to restrict the visitors to three runs when they needed six for victory. As skipper Scott Galloway pointed out, this is just the sort of narrow margin that we were on the wrong side of several times last year. Let’s hope we stay on that side a few more times this season. For the full scorecard, go to http://www.cricketscotland.com/node/15407.

Meanwhile, the Twos were in the Falkirk area to face Westquarter and Redding. The word is that the wicket had been recently cut and had no markings, the outfield “not likely to offer many fours along the ground.” However, the wicket was marked, Freuchie lost the toss and were put in to bat. Scoring was difficult, but Blair Forrester and Robbie Wright did well, equal top scorers with 44 apiece. Our total was 132 for 7 after 50 overs. Tight bowling and good fielding saw Westquarter all out for 95, with Blair notching 4 wickets for just 21 runs in his ten over spell. Captain Kenny Crichton was delighted with this great team effort.

Sunday. Scottish Cup first round, at home to Soneywood Dyce. Lacking Scott Gourlay and Dave Cowan, our attack was maybe a bit down on what it might have been, but it gave a chance to let a couple of our younger bowlers feel the fire. It really has to be admitted that all of our bowlers got a bit of heat – eight of the eleven had a go, Dale Cowan the least expensive with 1 wicket at 5 an over, Graeme Christie just behind with 1 wicket for 5.3 an over, others nearer 7 an over. The result was a rather daunting 339 for 6 off 50 overs for the visitors. Graeme was an early casualty when we had only 9 on the board, but Robbie Birrell and skipper Scott Galloway were looking good until Galzo went to a good catch at deep square leg. Things were never quite the same after that, although we reached a very creditable 215 all out, which included a sterling 40 from Jock Wallace.

Technorati Tags: Freuchie, Freuchie Cricket Club, cricket, Cricket Scotland, West Lothian, Westquarter, Stoneywood Dyce

Our grand Centenary Dinner and Dance is well and truly over. If we would maybe have been happy to sell a few more tickets, we had a very respectable turnout and everyone enjoyed themselves.

Bill “Faff” McFarlane of Rossie Priory Cricket Club kept up his high standards as MC while President Alan Duncan had plenty to say about his fellow players, but the star was undoubtedly our principal speaker, Bill “Bearded Wonder” Frindall, of BBC’s Test Match Special team. His tales of life in the commentary box and players and commentators past and present were a joy for all, perhaps especially for those of us who used to listen spellbound to the lugubrious tones of John Arlott.

 
Photos: Bill “Faff” McFarlane (left) and Alan Duncan (right)

 
Photos: Bill “Bearded Wonder” Frindall delivering his hilarious after dinner speech 

 
Photo: The audience were captivated by Bill’s stories and anecdotes

Three of our guests could hardly believe that twenty five years had passed since the big 75th anniversary shindig. We’re sure they could tell us a story or two about that evening!

 
Photo: (left to right) David Grant, Harry Barclay and Dave Christie

Least we forget, this was a dinner dance with excellent food, a real culinary delight, plentiful liquid refreshment and followed by dancing of many styles and genres. Everyone looked to be having a grand time.

     

   Photos: The happy revelers (click on a photo to see a hi-res version)

Photo: Our illustrious guest is entertained by the Club President and his wife

Perhaps we have many natural born dancers, maybe the refreshment was particularly good or could it be there is a secret plethora of Strictly Coming Dancing fans in Freuchie! Regardless, the band, “Rough Diamond”, ensured plenty of aerobic exercise to justify the quenching of that dreaded dance thirst!

Photo: Rough Diamond banging out the tunes 

 

Photos: The revelers jig the night away 

Photos: Some of the visiting dignitary from Rossie Priory and Falkland

Bill had kindly presented us with a signed limited edition of his circular chart of Brian Lara’s famous 400 not out against England – an unlikely-to be repeated event, captured here in elegantly succinct form. This was auctioned by Bill himself, raising £100 for club funds.

 
Photo: Bill auctions off his kind gift

Pleasing, too, to report that the event was well supported by our players, with visiting luminaries of Scottish Cricket to add even more to the occasion. The Lomond Hills Hotel made sure we were well fed and watered, the band “Rough Diamond” for the tunes and the exercise, while John Thomson of Roundtrip Solutions Ltd. provided some photographic records.

Our sincere thanks to Bill, to Faff, to Ronnie and the hotel staff, to John T, to the band and to all the people who made this a memorable evening.

Technorati Tags: Bill Frindall, Fife, Freuchie, Freuchie Cricket Club, Lomond Hills Hotel, Roundtriip Solutions

So many people did so much to bring the Festival about, not least our main Festival Sponsor, Belhaven. More of that in a moment, recognising at the outset that my sieve-like memory is likely to do a grave injustice to many who helped.

The first of our games was on Tuesday 17th June (I’m only a month late in writing this!) against a Scottish President’s Select. Captained by Euan McIntyre from Cricket Scotland with luminaries such as Pete Drummond and Bill Scott from Meigle with a big partnership from Gregor Maiden of Grange and Ian Young from West of Scotland, the Select was a bit much for us, despite a brave innings from Arun Trivedi.

Just in case you missed it, information and photos from this match were posted earlier.

Wednesday was the Big One, our visitors Sussex Ladies. For anyone who might have thought that Ladies’ Cricket is a kindergarten pat-about, this would have come as a revelation. Technically superb, commanding batting, excellent bowling, crisp throwing-in. Just a pleasure to watch. However, our 239 for 8 (half centuries for Scott Galloway and Stevie Rowley) was a bit much for the ladies. They finished 175 all out, Ebony Rainford-Brent top-scoring with 53. We hope Katherine Brunt has fully recovered from her altercation with a cricket ball.

Photo: Freuchie Cricket Club & Sussex Ladies photo call 

Photo: Timeout for a wee break and a drink…. note the marquee

Fife Scouts had put up a marquee for us and Belhaven had equipped it with a bar. We planned a barbecue, hoping for one of these balmy evenings, but it was decidedly cold. We moved inside and the Milenberg Jazz Band got the dancing going. “Let Ebony play the drums,” cried the ladies. That’s usually a cue for all-round embarrassment, but not this time – Ebony’s drumming was up to the standards of her excellent batting. (Our drummer was lucky to get his sticks back at all).

Photos: Ebony on drums and the Milenberg Jazz Band in full swing 

Thursday brought us Falkland Cricket Club and the Archie Cowan Memorial Trophy match. I think we’d have to confess that getting out a mid-week team three days in a row was a struggle, and like the President’s Select, Falkland, with pro Tim Lythe, proved a bit much for our somewhat depleted side. Family Watson (Brian, with 30-odd not out and next generation Graeme and Paul) provided a solid core that we could not match on the day.

Although we may have failed to recapture the Archie Cowan Cup, the presentation of a centenary celebration gift to the club by Falkland’s Paul Watson, graciously accepted by Alan Duncan, demonstrates the close links and comradeship between us and our local rivals. Perhaps next year they’ll remember to bring the cup with them so as to save us the trip to retrieve it!

Photo: Paul Watson presents Alan Duncan with a gift from Falkland Cricket Club 

So – at risk of forgetting major contributors – big, big thanks to Harry ‘The Barbecue’ Barclay, The Scotsman, the BBC, to Belhaven, whose generosity covered the travel costs for the Sussex Ladies, to the local families who provided bed and breakfast for the ladies, to our own committee, who put in so much work, to the Lomond Hills Hotel who loaned us a barrel of Best for our beer tent, to the Scouts for the beer tent, to the Milenberg Jazz Band for their good-time music, to all the players, visitors and our own, to visiting photographer Alan Richardson and our own John Thomson of Roundtrip Solutions …. The list just goes on and on, but it really has to include our President, Alan Duncan, who was the means of our having Sussex Ladies here, and also who provided many of the ideas that made our three-day Festival a success.

Now, when we get to the bi-centenary …..

Technorati Tags: Cricket Scotland, Belhaven Brewery, Cricket, Freuchie, Freuchie Cricket Club, The Lomond Hills Hotel, Sussex Ladies’ Cricket Club, Falkland Cricket Club, Meigle Cricket Club, The Scotsman, BBC

Wednesday is really special – our match against a Sussex Ladies’ team, which includes a number of the England players. There’ll be a barbecue in the evening, with the Milenberg Jazz Band providing gentle background music. (Aye, right! The Milenberg? Gentle?)

Thursday sees us face a Falkland Select, so there’s three days of varied and entertaining cricket in store. All three games start at 1 pm.

Roll Up! Roll Up!

Catch her report in The Scottish Review – good pics of the park, the lads, and star of stage screen and radio, Mary Low. Well, star of Islay’s report.

What we should have told Islay is that this was the first round of the Patent Attorney Murgitroyd & Company‘s Caledonia T:20, and a fine match it was. We batted first for a tolerable score of 157, with DHSFP always pretty much up with the clock when it came their turn. Things could have gone absolutely either way, but a truly stunning one-handed catch from skipper Alan Wallace off the bowling of Scott Gourlay (once again – see Islay’s report in The Scottish Review for some comment on each of them) tipped matters in our favour and we ran out winners by nine runs. (I think the lower right of Islay’s pictures is Alan W getting back on his feet from taking that catch, Scott G in the background saying “YES!!” and I think we scored two runs more than Islay credits us with, but I’m not going to argue with a lady).

Stoneywood Dyce next …..

Technorati Tags: Freuchie, Freuchie Cricket Club, Murgitroyd, Stoneywood Dyce CC, The Scottish Review

Junior Club Cricket:

Junior District Cricket: 

Senior Cricket:

Sadly, Airch is no more, but as you will have gathered, is warmly remembered. Mary and the family put up a trophy in his memory, to be contested each year between us and our old rivals, Falkland Cricket Club. The extent of the various league and cup involvements for both clubs has made it difficult to arrange this season, but we are delighted to say that it’s on for this Sunday.

One o’clock start at Freuchie Park, Sunday 16th September. A Last Hurrah for the 2007 season. Be There!

Technorati Tags: Freuchie, Freuchie Cricket Club, Falkland, Falkland Cricket Club

Sadly, more of a whimper than a bang for the Firsts. A win on Saturday would have seen us in a play-off for promotion to Premier Division, but it was not to be. We fared poorly against Aberdeenshire Cricket Club‘s attack then took only four of their wickets, giving us the proverbial nul points. Meanwhile, Stenhousemuir scored ONE SINGLE POINT in their match against Watsonians, to nudge us into fourth place. The ‘Sair tae Bear’ reported against Arbroath a few weeks back is now mair sair – we lost then by a single run, when just two more would have seen us firmly in second place. Anyway, no moaning!

The Twos did better, though. At home to Holy Cross with an injury-depleted team, they held the visitors to 170 runs, then batted resolutely to reach 171. Blair Forrester’s excellently struck 71 not out was a huge part of this. Indeed, he and Graeme Christie looked totally in control for a while until Blair called for a single of a smartly driven cover drive and Graeme was run out. Had Blair been a little more cautious in his call, had Graeme been backing up better, they might have made it a six wicket victory. The main thing is that we think this is enough to keep them in the top division of the East League, but that has yet to be confirmed.

Technorati Tags: Scotland, Cricket Scotland, Freuchie, Freuchie Cricket Club, Aberdeenshire Cricket Club, Stenhousemuir Cricket Club, Watsonians, Arbroath Cricket Club, Holy Cross Cricket Club, East of Scotland Cricket Association

Our win over Stenhousemuir at the Tryst on Saturday was therefore just what the doctor ordered. While we have been in third position in Division I for some time, those in slots four to seven were uncomfortably close behind, but this win put a slightly healthier margin into the gap. Rain-affected again, and on a pitch difficult for both sides, what must have seemed a pretty easy target of 111 Stenhousemuir runs turned out to be tough enough. We lost seven wickets in getting them, in what the papers termed “a nervy run-chase.”

Not so good was the loss of the Twos’ game against Grange Twos. We weren’t seriously expecting to make many points from this one, but what really counts is games, and this goes down as yet another victory for the weather. The game was called off on Friday evening, our pitch like the proverbial pudden.’ (“Pudding,” for those of a more refined background).

And even less good was Sunday’s nPower Village Cup game against Wolviston. All the weather forecasts said there would be no cricket that day, but we made the trip. The game was in fact badly affected, but according to the old guy who played at Balmoral the week before, “there to be won.” Combinations of two dropped catches, the call of the T in the Park sirens to some of our players and a few other things saw us fail to do ourselves justice. However, that’s the truth of most matches – if only this, if only that etc. The plain fact is that we didn’t do enough on the day.

So next Saturday, the First away to Renfrew, the Twos at home to Heriots. Better weather, please.

Technorati Tags: cricket, Cricket Scotland, Freuchie, Freuchie Cricket Club,  Stenhousemuir  Renfrew Cricket Club, Heriots Cricket Club